~ DAVID ~
I stared at Zara and realized the moment had arrived. There was no way through this conversation except total honesty, or complete deception.
She stared at me with dark circles under her eyes, skin that was scraped and bruised from a week in the dungeons, and hair that, though it had been washed, was still stringy and unstyled. She stood before me in the ragged clothing of a servant. She was supposed to be a Queen, but right now she looked like a kicked puppy.
Yet, she'd never looked more beautiful to me. I'd never wanted her more. Yet something in my chest pinched.
"David… please," she breathed. "Tell me."
I'd always planned to tell her, to explain. It would give her peace about so many things. And yet… my brother was the best and most carefully guarded secret in my Kingdom.
